Microwaves to Help Transport Systems DRIVE Forward in Europe

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Mercedes-Benz are leading a project to create the transport system of the future, in which cars communicate with each other, receive real-time information about traffic, and also gather and forward information. A test area is currently being built in Tampere, Finland, that will help establish which services Finnish drivers want, and what sort of effect these services would have on the safety and fluency of traffic as well as environmental effects.

The development is part of the recently launched European DRIVE C2X Project, which has a total budget of around €19 M. European research institutes and major European car manufacturers—particularly Daimler as the project’s coordinator—are carrying out this three-year project. VTT is the largest partner in the project, both by budget—€2.1 M—and volume of work. In addition to Finland, other countries taking part in the project are Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, France and Spain.

The DRIVE C2X Project, which commenced in January 2011, follows on the work of the PRE-DRIVE C2X Project that was completed in June 2010. Based on the overall description of a common European architecture for an inter-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication system, PRE-DRIVE C2X developed a detailed system specification and functionally verified prototype. The new systems will be trialled in about a year’s time in Tampere, when the test area is up-and-running.

FP7 Programme Update

The DRIVE C2X Project is part of the Seventh Framework Programme, which bundles all research-related EU initiatives together to help reach the goals of growth, competitiveness and employment. The DRIVE C2X Project is set to run from January 2011 to December 2013. To discover the project’s objectives, participants, funding, etc., visit: www.mwjournal.com/FP7APR2011.